Witness in Framingham slaying trial: McDaniel was gang leader

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Norman MillerDaily News Staff

WOBURN – Eric Murray’s cousin, who described himself as the best friend of Joseph McDaniel, whom Murray is accused of killling, told a Middlesex Superior Court jury Thursday that McDaniel was the feared leader of a Framingham street gang.Besides identifying McDaniel as the leader of the KST, or Kendall Street Thugs, Paul Purvis told jurors about a confrontation between Murray and McDaniel on Beaver Street, hours before the fatal shooting Oct. 7, 2003.Defense lawyer Timothy Bradl called Purvis, as well as several Framingham Police officers, to establish that the KST, also known both as the Kendall Street Team, was a street gang with McDaniel at its head, and that fear led his client to shoot McDaniel.Bradl, in his opening statement, acknowledged that Murray, now 37, shot and killed McDaniel, 19.Purvis, who was living with Murray at the time of the slaying, once lived with both Murray and McDaniel. He told the jury of eight women and six men that he considered himself closer to McDaniel, whom he called his best friend.Bradl asked Purvis about McDaniel and the gang."He was the leader at the time," said Purvis. "They (the KST) would carry weapons and sold drugs. I knew him to carry a knife with him, as I do."Purvis said he was with McDaniel on the afternoon of Oct. 7, 2003, when Murray confronted him on Beaver Street. He said he thought Murray was joking when he began asking McDaniel about the KST planning to rob him. Both men grew angry, he said."Eric said, ‘What’s this I hear about you and the KST plotting on robbing me? How about I rob you?,'" Purvis said. Murray then reached into McDaniel's pocket, he said.McDaniel shoved Murray, who stumbled, which made Murray’s pit bull, General, charge at McDaniel, Purvis said.Purvis said he later questioned Murray about what had happened. Before he answered, Judge Sandra Hamlin said the jury could not use Purvis’ testimony as evidence, but only of Murray’s state of mind."I asked him what was that about and he said, ‘These guys (KST) are talking to these (expletives) saying that they’re robbing me. I’m not going to sit there and let them hurt me,’ " said Purvis. "I said, ‘What, Joe?,’ and he said ‘No, his boys, but he’s the leader.’ "Purvis will continue his testimony on Monday.Earlier in the trial, several Framingham Police officers had testified as prosecution witnesses that, at the time of the shooting, they had never heard of the KST, and if they had, they did not know it as a street gang.On Thursday, Framingham Police Sgt. Michael Esposito, who was called by Murray's lawyer to testify, said he was aware of the KST as far back as 2001.Esposito, as well as several other officers, went to Kendall Street on Oct. 31, 2001, for a report of someone firing a paintball gun at a police cruiser. Esposito said Kendall Street was a "high-crime area," with a street gang known as the Kendall Street Thugs being there."There were in that area and would commit various crimes," Esposito said.Police confronted McDaniel, who swore at the officers, Esposito said. When officers arrested him, it took four of them to get him handcuffed, he said.They found a bag of paintballs in his pocket. When they frisked him at the police station, he was wearing a knife around his neck, which Esposito said a popular practice with some people at the time.Lt. Vincent Stuart said he became aware of the KST in October 2003 and the department began identifying members, including McDaniel.On Dec. 1, 2002, he and several officers went to a large fight on Hollis Street and found a group of about 100 people gathered around several people who had been stabbed. Joseph McDaniel’s younger brother, Robert, was arrested for the stabbing, but Stuart said the crowd, and Joseph McDaniel, became angry."Joe McDaniel was part of a series of attempts with about 12 others to try to free him (Robert McDaniel)," said Stuart. "They made three separate attempts."Stuart said he had to pepper spray and then hit Joseph McDaniel with his baton, to get the then 18-year-old under control and to arrest him for disorderly conduct.Bradl also questioned Framingham Deputy Police Chief Kevin Slattery, a detective at the time who was investigating the shooting. Also, in 2007, he authored a federal affidavit in a weapons and gun case brought against several members of the KST. In that affidavit, he mentions the KST as far back as 2001 and listed McDaniel as a member of the gang.Judge Hamlin, who was the judge in Murray’s original 2005 trial where he was convicted of first-degree murder, overturned the verdict in 2010 because, in part, of the gang evidence presented in that affidavit, which Murray argued he could have used as part of his defense.On Thursday, Bradl told Hamlin he wanted to question Slattery and other detectives about the lack of gang evidence turned over as part of the discovery to original lawyer Arthur Kelly, saying that it could show "law enforcement bias" in trying to get a conviction against Murray at all costs."It shows that Joseph McDaniel was the violent leader of the Kendall Street Thugs, which was an extremely relevant piece of information," Bradl said.Hamlin ruled against Bradl. She said he could ask about the KST, and what knowledge the witnesses had at the time of the shooting, not what they learned about the gang years later.Slattery said he knew little about the KST in October 2003."At the time, I didn’t know too much about any gang in the area," he said. "I wasn’t really familiar with a gang that hung around the area."Slattery said the first time he heard of the KST was when he was investigating an armed robbery of a pizza delivery man in 2001. At that time, he found a KST banner in a suspect’s house, but he didn’t know what it stood for.Then, on Marathon Monday in 2003, several members of the KST wore shirts along the route that said, "KST ain’t no joke," and had hand-drawn guns on them firing bullets, Slattery said.After McDaniel was killed, a shrine was set up on Kendall Street in his honor. Bradl asked if that was a sign of McDaniel being an important KST member."He was an esteemed member deserving a shrine, wasn’t he?" Bradl asked.Slattery said, "An esteemed member? I wouldn’t agree with that characterization."The trial is scheduled to continue on Monday. Bradl said he does not expect to call any additional witnesses. Prosecutor Nicole Allain did not say if she would call any rebuttal witnesses.Murray is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm without a license. He is facing life in prison if convicted.Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. To follow the trial, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW, #murraytrial.

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